LOS ANGELES – St. John’s Well Child and Family Center will host its 4th Annual Movable Feast on April 27th at the Park Plaza Hotel. The event will raise awareness about the lack of access to healthy food in South LA, where St. John’s operates one of LA County’s largest networks of community health centers providing free or low-cost care to some of the most vulnerable communities in Los Angeles.

The event will recognize the individuals and organizations who have played a critical role in expanding health services in South Los Angeles. This year’s distinguished honorees are Maria Elena Durazo, Executive Secretary-Treasurer of the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor (Visionary Award), LA City Council member Curren D. Price, Jr. (Activist Award), Swinerton Builders (Advocate Award), Howard Kahn of LA CARE (Health Safety Net Hero). “As I drive the streets of South LA visiting our health centers, there is often little to feast on except fast food outlets, corner liquor stores, empty lots, and gas stations,” said St. John’s President & CEO Jim Mangia. “And that’s why this year’s Movable Feast is celebrating the remarkable work so many are doing to move a feast to South Los Angeles, one garden or pocket park at a time.”

Guests will savor a variety of tastings presented by participating restaurants whose menu offerings will feature a locally grown and sustainable ingredient sourced from our growing partners. Participating restaurants are generously donating their staff, time and ingredients – St. John’s is providingthe “featured ingredients” from our growing partners to be highlighted in the offering.

Funds raised at Movable Feast will support the community surrounding St. John’s South LA service area, commonly referred to as a food desert, where the majority of residents live in poverty, and are plagued with chronic diseases such as obesity and diabetes. Specifically, proceeds will support targeted obesity-prevention programming for youth through the implementation of gardens at our school based health center sites, nutritional counseling by our Registered Dietician to patients across our network of clinics, expansion of our edible gardens project to more neighborhoods in South Los Angeles and comprehensive, quality health care to South LA residents, regardless of their ability to pay.

“When I first came to St. John’s, I hadn’t received treatment for my diabetes in over ten years,” said Julio Magana, a patient who lost is vision as a result of diabetes complications but has since received corrective surgery to restore sight in both eyes. “St. John’s has taught me how to manage diabetes – through diet, exercise, and medication. For me and others, we need to be able to access healthy food and safe places to exercise. We have to change our lives and our neighborhoods for our health.”

About St. John’s Well Child and Family Center: St. John’s Well Child and Family Center (SJWCFC) is an independent 501(c)(3) community health center. We serve patients of all ages through a network of 11 health centers and school-based clinics in Central and South Los Angeles and Compton. Our mission is to eliminate health disparities and foster community well-being by providing and promoting the highest quality care in South Los Angeles. The central goal of SJWCFC is to address the unmet needs of low income, uninsured and underinsured residents of the service area by providing access to linguistically and culturally appropriate primary medical, dental, and mental health services, regardless of ability to pay. To learn more please check their website.